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Reliably faithful
Biblically faithful theology and a perspective on all of life, not a slice of it.
Rooted in the Reformed heritage
Reformed Christian learning for every season of life.
Join us as we provide online learning, conferences, and immersive study experiences shaped by Scripture and the Reformed confessions.
Spring & Summer Course Registration is OPEN.
And there is still time to join and watch our Fall courses!
Who we are
Our Heritage Defined
At Reformed Heritage Study Center, we stand firmly in the stream of the church confessing the biblical, Christ-centered faith down through the centuries. Thus, we look to the teaching and guidance of the Holy Spirit through the early church, its creeds, and the medieval theologians, writers, and poets, including their appropriation of classical learning, all discerned through the theological perspective of the 16th century Reformation. The Reformers’ teaching was preserved and refined by Puritans, post-Reformation scholastics, and 19th century Princetonian and Dutch theologians and leaders. Finally, this heritage was conveyed to us by 20th century teachers, who also articulated a firm stance against modern rationalisms, theological liberalisms, and secularisms. This biblical faith has been summarized and continually confessed in the church’s creeds and Reformation confessions and catechisms (Three Forms of Unity and Westminster Standards), represented today in the NAPARC* churches, to which we belong.
*North American Presbyterian and Reformed Council (such as URCNA, CanRC, OPC, RCUS, RPCNA, PCA, etc.). These churches are so identified because they subscribe one or the other sets of Reformational confessional standards.
A World Perspective
This perspective is not a narrow, factional, or limiting one which withdraws from the world. Rather, our Reformed heritage has repeatedly affirmed the goodness of God’s creation in spite of its fallenness, and recognized the high dignity of fallen human beings in the image of God, and the necessity of our learning from the contributions of the ungodly through common grace, even while we critique their worldviews. Hence our heritage grounds for us a secure stance that is open to and engaged with every sector of life, learning, and creativity, and we celebrate the good, the true, and the beautiful, wherever it is found, because it is from our God. Our heritage and faith perspective is thus as big as the whole world and its wonders, and as Paul says (1 Cor. 3.22), the world is yours in Christ!
Who are we for
Any thinking Christian who is curious and inquiring, and who recognizes we need a faithful biblical and theological formation to flourish in all our various callings, activities, and creative endeavors. This includes
High school students contemplating college or university, whether secular, where Christian faith is maligned and misrepresented, or “Christian,” where the biblical faith once for all delivered to the saints is forgotten or even contradicted.
High school students pursuing a gap year, or otherwise forgoing traditional college for now, not least because of its high costs.
Students in college, who are having to confront secular ideologies or questionable or vague Christian teachings.
College graduates and other inquiring adults who have discovered their own need for better and fuller answers in their desire to live out their Christian faith in an increasingly hostile world.
For all of the above, we are your source for trustworthy high-level Christian instruction for every area of life rooted in the Reformed heritage.
How it works
Study with us
Signup on the platform is free, and grants access to publicly available content and open events like meetups and book clubs. Study courses require enrollment in that course, and meet one or two times a week depending on the course. A schedule is available before signup on the class page, and on the class calendar when purchased. Live participation is encouraged; however, all classes are recorded and available to students enrolled in the course through our site.
Summary Advantages
Why study here
Five reasons students choose the Study Center over the alternatives.
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Without the tuition
Circumvents the high cost of a regular college degree program.
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A complement, not a replacement
Supplements secular degree programs with a hard-to-find Christian perspective.
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Live or on your own hours
Every course meets live and is archived for enrolled students to rewatch.
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In person in Southern California
One-on-one meetings, class excursions, and periodic conferences.
Courses
Learning for every season
Each of our courses includes a syllabus, schedule, online readings, and required and recommended books. Featured classes for the coming terms, with more offerings on the horizon. Most courses are priced based on a college semester equivalent, depending on cadence and length—approximately two 90-minute sessions per week for 16 weeks, or one 90-minute session spread over 32 weeks; typically around $499 USD. Individual course prices are shown below.
Spring & Summer Course Registration is OPEN.
And there is still time to join and watch our Fall courses!
Saint John the Evangelist on Patmos - Hieronymus Bosch (1489 or later) - Public Domain
Bible Book by Book II: Romans – Revelation
From Romans to Revelation—guilt, grace, gratitude, and apocalyptic hope.
Spring 2027$499T/Th 3:30–5:00 pm / 16 weeks
Part of The Bible Book by Book series. This course covers the second half of the New Testament: the letters (epistles) of Paul, the general (“catholic” meaning universal) epistles, and the Book of Revelation (properly, of the Revelation of Jesus Christ). Here we have the first systematic unfolding of the meaning of Christ’s person and work (most written before the Gospels). Paul’s missionary calling into the gentile Greco-Roman world provided the impetus for his explaining Christian theology and practice in the most comprehensive way for the needs of the church down to our own day. We spend extra time with the book of Romans, as it most clearly unfolds the structure of guilt-grace-gratitude (sin-salvation-service). Then the book to the Hebrews, and those of Peter and James, in many ways give us a Jewish perspective on Old Testament fulfilment, suffering, and obedient service. John’s letters continue themes from his Gospel. The book of Revelation gives us the climax of prophecy with a Christ-centered call to obedience and testimony, in the midst of the ongoing opposition of Babylon, the Beast, and the Dragon. And this requires us to understand how the mysterious literary genre of “apocalyptic” works—through symbolism and allusive reference to every earlier part of the Bible.
View details
Young Girl Reading - Jean-Honoré Fragonard (c. 1769) - Public Domain
Reading the Human Condition: An Introduction to Literature
Literary movements and ways of seeing—poetry, stories, and the human condition.
Spring 2027$499T/Th 11:00 am–12:30 pm / 16 weeks
This course provides an overview of major literary movements, highlighting the ways these movements reshape our ways of looking at the world. Through poetry, short stories, and reference to longer works, we begin with the English Renaissance and move through Romanticism, the Transcendentalists, and beyond—learning to read literature as a window on the human condition.
View details
A Meeting of the Synod of Dort - G. van Hove (1630) - Public Domain
Reformed Doctrine and Life
Systematic theology and ethics from our Reformed confessional heritage.
Spring 2027$499T/Th 1:00–2:30 pm / 16 weeks
“Doctrine” just means teaching, and that teaching is life to us. But it is necessary that we understand rightly what the Bible teaches, in order that we may believe and live it. Here we examine each of the traditional “loci” of systematic theology within our Reformed heritage, with the aid of the confessional documents and key 20th century teachers, such as John Murray. We also learn the value of Reformed reference works of theology, such as Berkhof, Bavinck, Warfield, Hodge, and Turretin. Confessional Reformed teaching also includes Christian ethics, and hence we examine our catechisms’ interpretation of the Ten Commandments, as well as special ethical emphases of the Old Testament (justice and the fear of the Lord) and the New Testament (Sermon on the Mount, walking by the Spirit). This course will ground students in truths often contradicted today, including the attributes of God and his providence, the doctrines of grace in salvation, and the nature of baptism.
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Pentecost - Anthony van Dyck (1618–1620) - Public Domain
Pneumatology: the Doctrine of the Holy Spirit
Who the Spirit is, what he does, and why he matters for life in Christ.
Spring 2027$4992x 90 minute sessions / week for 16 weeks
If we believe in the Holy Spirit, what does that mean for our lives? Have we forgotten that Pentecost (the coming of the Holy Spirit; Acts 2) created the church? Has a reaction to the emotional expressiveness and emphasis on sensational gifts that characterize the Charismatic movement led us to downplay the Holy Spirit’s reality? In truth, the biblical Reformed tradition has given us a rich theology of the Spirit’s work and presence in our lives. Calvin has even been called “the theologian of the Holy Spirit.” If, as Jesus in John said, The Spirit is another Helper (or, “Encourager”) like himself, and, as Paul said, if we don’t have the indwelling Spirit, we don’t have Christ, then indeed we are obliged to know him and how we are to relate to him! This course will help us to do that rightly, receiving his presence in the churchly means of grace, following the Spirit’s leading (Gal. 5.16), enjoying his every blessing (Eph. 1.3), experiencing his koinonia (mutual participation), and being obedient to his ministry assignments (the surprising meaning of the “Spirit gifts”)!
View details
Among the Sierra Nevada, California (1868) By Albert Bierstadt - Smithsonian American Art Museum; Photo: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Public Domain
Further Up and Further Into Narnia: C.S. Lewis on the Christian Pilgrimage
Beyond the wardrobe, into the wonder of Christian faith
Summer 2027$2492x 90 minute sessions / week for 8 weeks
For those new to Narnia, as well as veteran Narnians: as we read (or re-read) each of the Chronicles, we explore the surprising ways Lewis is able to reenchant us for the joyful reality of God and the world as his good creation. Using the classical Christian seven planet schema (Michael Ward, Planet Narnia and The Narnia Code), Lewis imbues each story with a unique atmosphere and themes conveying deep theology about Christ and the Christian life. There are lessons here that all of us, of whatever age or stage of life, need to learn or relearn. Let Lewis’s theological imagination steal past the watchful dragons of our secular slumber and idol distractions, and return us to the immediacy of our Christian pilgrimage. We are all on a quest toward God and his mission, striving against the enemy of our souls, and so we are in need of courage and refreshment. Come breathe the Narnian air with us!
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The Reading Lesson - Knut Ekvall (19th century) - Public Domain
Stories of Transformation: Finding Wisdom in Coming of Age Classics
Becoming men and women in Christ through classic coming-of-age stories.
Summer 2027$249T/Th 11:00 am–12:30 pm / 8 weeks
Summer is a perfect time to revisit the stories that shape our view of adolescence. Each week we will revisit (or visit for the first time!) some classic coming-of-age stories and discuss what it means to grow and mature. We will consider how the authors portray the transformation from childhood to adulthood, and the lessons we can learn along the way. This course is designed for young people reading these stories for the first time, or for the young-at-heart who want to discuss the richness of these tales. We will read Anne of Green Gables, Little Women, Little Britches, and others.
View details
The Reception of the Ambassadors in Damascus (1511) By Unknown Venetian artist - Louvre; Photo: Louvre, Public Domain
Islam Apologetics: Understanding and engaging Muslims
Understanding Islam. Engaging Muslims with truth, wisdom, and love.
Summer 2027$2492x 90 minute sessions / week for 8 weeks
Beyond just knowing the tenets of Islam, we need to learn how Muslims of different kinds perceive and practice their religion, and how they may regard Christians and other non-Muslims. Increasingly in America and other Western countries, we cannot avoid a testimony to our Muslim neighbors, but this is difficult to do with wisdom and love if we do not seek to understand them, and the ideas that shape them. Islam apologetics means learning about their claims that contradict Christian faith, and about how best to answer them. We learn about their history, culture, scripture (the Qur’an), the different branches and movements. What is their degree of commitment and practice? Can Muslims be modern and liberal? How vulnerable are Muslims in the West, most of whom are moderate or traditional, to militant (Islamist) movements? And what is the testimony of those that have left Islam? Above all, we seek to give an answer for the hope that is in us, yet with gentleness and respect (1 Pet. 3.15). This means we treat them seriously as human beings in the image of God, yet burdened by a religious system that ultimately offers no hope.
View detailsOpen Ongoing Courses
Courses you can still join, and watch in your own time!
Fall 2026
Reformed Heritage Study Center
Bible Book by Book I: Matthew – Acts
The Gospels and Acts—Jesus’ person, work, and already–not-yet Kingdom.
Fall 2026
Reformed Heritage Study Center
The Christian Mind
Faith as big as the world—biblical worldview for every sphere of life.
Fall 2026—Spring 2027
Reformed Heritage Study Center
From Hell to Heaven: Reading Dante’s Divine Comedy
Dante’s epic pilgrimage—and how it can transform Christian lives.
Fall 2026—Spring 2027
Reformed Heritage Study Center
Biblical and Modern Israel
Land, language, and people—preparing hearts and minds for Israel.
Fall 2026
Reformed Heritage Study Center
Bible Book by Book I: Matthew – Acts
The Gospels and Acts—Jesus’ person, work, and already–not-yet Kingdom.
Fall 2026
Reformed Heritage Study Center
The Christian Mind
Faith as big as the world—biblical worldview for every sphere of life.
Fall 2026—Spring 2027
Reformed Heritage Study Center
From Hell to Heaven: Reading Dante’s Divine Comedy
Dante’s epic pilgrimage—and how it can transform Christian lives.
Fall 2026—Spring 2027
Reformed Heritage Study Center
Biblical and Modern Israel
Land, language, and people—preparing hearts and minds for Israel.
Events
Gatherings that deepen faith
We are preparing conferences, workshops, and immersive study trips— opportunities to learn together in person and in the places where Scripture unfolds.
Israel Trip
An immersion in the land of the Bible — May 2027
May 2027Join us for a study immersion in Israel. If you missed our email with detailed itinerary, please let us know. Sign up for launch updates to be notified first.
View detailsInstructors
Teachers Meeting the Needs of Today
As teachers who have been nurtured and trained in the Reformed heritage and perspective, we are passionate about bringing others along to discover for themselves the same firm biblical and historical grounding, with all its holistic relevance for faith and life today. Yet we recognize that this is not just a matter of conveying information; it requires discerning thinking and judgments, always in the context of our faith formation and sanctification. In our age of instant AI summaries of anything, and YouTube how-tos for every interest, we can mistake all this information for learning. But the algorithms do not serve wisdom, and Christians of all ages are increasingly in desperate need of the wisdom of Christ through the Spirit’s provision in the rich Reformed heritage of biblical faith. Reformed Heritage Study Center thus aims to be a trusted venue for quality Christian instruction and formation, and one that is able to confront a contemporary situation that offers “wisdom,” “spiritual” and even “Christian” guidance that is often confused and dangerous. Join us, and preserve your faith and expand your world!
Dr. Scott A. Swanson
Ph.D. Hebrew Union College—Jewish Institute of Religion
As Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies, Dr. Swanson taught at Providence Christian College (Ontario, and then Pasadena, California) for all of its 21 years. He then became co-founder with Prof. Flora Krook of Reformed Heritage Study Center.
After studying Greek, New Testament, and philosophy at Westmont College, Dr. Swanson’s graduate studies included Westminster Theological Seminary (Philadelphia), Faculté Jean Calvin (Aix-en-Provence, France), L’Abri (Huemoz, Switzerland), and the Hebrew University (Jerusalem, Israel), where he lived with his wife Kim for seven years and studied Ancient Semitic Languages. His doctoral degree was earned at the Hebrew Union College—Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, Ohio, in Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament) and the History of its Interpretation. His dissertation was a comparative study of the church Fathers and the Jewish Rabbis in their interpretation of the Old Testament, on the one side through the lens of the New Testament, and on the other through their traditions.
Dr. Swanson is passionate about showing the relevance of the original Hebrew and Greek of the Bible for our Christian lives. He also loves to uncover and celebrate key past theologians and authors in our Reformed Christian heritage for their teaching as well as their modeling of godly life and world engagement. One of these is the Anglican C.S. Lewis, on whose life and writings Dr. Swanson and Prof. Krook have several co-taught signature courses.
Flora Krook
M.A. Claremont Graduate University
Flora Krook was Assistant Professor of English at Providence Christian College, and is co-founder with Dr. Swanson of Reformed Heritage Study Center.
Prof. Krook received her Bachelor’s of Arts in English from Westmont College, minoring in History and Spanish. She studied for several years at Cal State San Marcos, where she taught Writing and Literature. Having completed her Master’s degree in English at Claremont Graduate University, she is pursuing her PhD there, focusing on Victorian English literature, with an emphasis on the intersections of faith, history and literature.
Having been raised in a Christian home, and in a Reformed church, she is eager to discuss great literature through the lens of faith. She is currently teaching as an adjunct at a small Christian college, leading book clubs, and teaching at a homeschool community in Monrovia while educating her four children. She has been blessed and encouraged by the students, faculty and staff she has been able to work with thus far, and is excited to see the work that God is doing through the Reformed Heritage Study Center.
Testimonials
Voices from the community
Stories from our community of students and colleagues.
I am thrilled and honored to endorse both the Reformed Heritage Study Center and its two founders, Dr. Scott Swanson and Professor Flora Krook. Those looking to grow in wisdom and understanding of God's word and world will not find better guides, teachers, and mentors than these. Their love of God, love of learning, and love of students is evident from your first encounter with them, and becomes increasingly obvious with each subsequent interaction. May the Lord bless this endeavor and all who join in it!
I was blessed to study under Dr. Scott Swanson for four years as an undergraduate. Dr. Swanson will bring the Bible to life for you in a way that will change how you think about yourself, your deep, personal relationship with God, and your mindset about our culture. His passion for both the Reformed tradition and the classical liberal arts is infectious and exciting. In a similar manner, Flora Krook will open your eyes to the wonders of literature through a Reformed lense. Studying under her will show you the rich truths that have passed down through history. I firmly believe any class you take through Reformed Heritage Study Center will be worth every penny.
As a high school student, I struggled to find a school with solid reformed theological teaching. I had the pleasure of finding and taking a number of Dr. Scott Swanson's classes which not only gave a foundational understanding, but were balanced with some of the nuance and complexity of Scripture. It was a blessing to receive such refined teaching even while enrolled in a high school that doesn't provide it.
I was honored to be a colleague of Dr. Scott Swanson and Professor Flora Krook for many years at Providence Christian College. Each of them was highly effective in their discipline and provided students with a strong biblical foundation that bore good fruit in their students' lives. I can highly recommend them to anyone looking for a biblical foundation rooted in a Reformed tradition in their studies. You will not be disappointed!
Church and the Bible were always a central part of my life, yet the intentionality and vigor of Dr. Swanson's classes gave me a passion and depth for the Word that profoundly solidified a biblical worldview for my life and gave me the lens and beauty of seeing Christ in all Scripture (no longer was the Old Testament boring!). By walking faithfully through Scripture, he taught me to attend to all the voices from history and culture and to see and listen carefully with my heart to consider how those messages are pointing to goodness and where they have twisted truth. Prof. Krook's literature classes go hand in hand with Dr. Swanson, examining human writers as they use story, imagery, and symbolism to discern truth from error and point us toward the Great Story. So take these classes, and the treasure trove of Christ's truth, the abundant life of the Spirit, and the gift of God's sovereign goodness will grow and burn in your hearts.
Being a student of Dr. Swanson has been one of the greatest blessings in my Christian walk. ... I was immediately made aware of the type of teacher he was: someone who loved what he taught and wanted others to love it too. ... Dr. Swanson's mission was never simply to give us as much information as possible until class time was over. His mission has always been to form our souls and minds. I can guarantee that you will become a more discerning thinker under his teaching. As a lover of the liberal arts, Dr. Swanson lives and teaches in such a way that embodies an idea that Saint Paul, the Church Fathers, the Medieval Scholastics, and the Reformers have all held as true: all truth is God's truth. This means we do not have to fear the world and the things produced by it. Rather, we can (and must) confidently and discerningly enter into it expecting to behold truth, goodness, and beauty. This also manifests itself in the way that Dr. Swanson places great importance on understanding grammar, literary structure, the biblical languages, history, and virtually every other subject, because God both became incarnate into this context and left His Word using these many disciplines. So, becoming a student under Dr. Swanson won't just make you a better Bible student; it'll make you a better student of everything within God's creation, including yourself. ... If you, too, love God, the liberal arts, the Reformed tradition, and a great quality education, you will never regret being formed by an amazing professor like Dr. Swanson.
I have had the great privilege of taking several classes with both Dr. Swanson and Prof. Krook. They are both full of wisdom, insight, and love for their fields of study, and present all of their classes from a strong Reformed perspective. I learned more from Dr. Swanson's Bible classes than years of sitting in Sunday sermons. Not only is he incredibly knowledgeable about theology, Scripture, and biblical languages (especially Hebrew!), but he is enthusiastic and personable. I always appreciated how he applied what we were studying to our daily lives, from a song we may hear on the radio to an opportunity we may have to evangelize a friend or neighbor.
Likewise, Prof. Krook's classes always extended beyond the classroom, as she taught us how to read and understand the literature of the past to understand our present, especially attuning us to any Dantean references around us. Her teaching is down-to-earth and conversational, making class feel more like a book club where we get to wrestle with big ideas than a series of long lectures that feel untethered to our reality. She is also a wonderful mentor to all of her students, giving us guidance not only on writing but life too.
Professor Krook teaches English in a way that impacts the whole of a person. Not only does she instruct her students with a very obvious love and care for each of them, she has personally changed how I analyze literature, how I write, and how I contemplate and analyze literary themes. To this day I meditate on some of our class discussions regarding beauty, memory, and the role of a believer. She helps her students to grow in their practical writing skills, their critical thinking skills, and in a deep spiritual way as she demonstrates how to analyze secular and Christian works of literature alike and apply those lessons to their life.
To say Dr. Scott Swanson is a gifted teacher, doesn't do justice to the work God is completing through his instruction. I can safely say that few people have touched my life in the myriad of ways in which Dr. Swanson has, but more, none have shown me the truest most vibrant and brilliant light and illimunated into the deepest wells, and infinite depths of the knowledge of God, His awesomeness, grace, riches, majesty, humility, and love; the infinitude buried within God's Most Holy and inerrant Word .... No one has shown me with such veracity and zeal, the Gospel, that, in thinking upon the lectures, studies, our trip to Israel; there are no words adequate enough to convey Scott's gift for teaching and love for God...
I am thrilled and honored to endorse both the Reformed Heritage Study Center and its two founders, Dr. Scott Swanson and Professor Flora Krook. Those looking to grow in wisdom and understanding of God's word and world will not find better guides, teachers, and mentors than these. Their love of God, love of learning, and love of students is evident from your first encounter with them, and becomes increasingly obvious with each subsequent interaction. May the Lord bless this endeavor and all who join in it!
I was blessed to study under Dr. Scott Swanson for four years as an undergraduate. Dr. Swanson will bring the Bible to life for you in a way that will change how you think about yourself, your deep, personal relationship with God, and your mindset about our culture. His passion for both the Reformed tradition and the classical liberal arts is infectious and exciting. In a similar manner, Flora Krook will open your eyes to the wonders of literature through a Reformed lense. Studying under her will show you the rich truths that have passed down through history. I firmly believe any class you take through Reformed Heritage Study Center will be worth every penny.
As a high school student, I struggled to find a school with solid reformed theological teaching. I had the pleasure of finding and taking a number of Dr. Scott Swanson's classes which not only gave a foundational understanding, but were balanced with some of the nuance and complexity of Scripture. It was a blessing to receive such refined teaching even while enrolled in a high school that doesn't provide it.
I was honored to be a colleague of Dr. Scott Swanson and Professor Flora Krook for many years at Providence Christian College. Each of them was highly effective in their discipline and provided students with a strong biblical foundation that bore good fruit in their students' lives. I can highly recommend them to anyone looking for a biblical foundation rooted in a Reformed tradition in their studies. You will not be disappointed!
Church and the Bible were always a central part of my life, yet the intentionality and vigor of Dr. Swanson's classes gave me a passion and depth for the Word that profoundly solidified a biblical worldview for my life and gave me the lens and beauty of seeing Christ in all Scripture (no longer was the Old Testament boring!). By walking faithfully through Scripture, he taught me to attend to all the voices from history and culture and to see and listen carefully with my heart to consider how those messages are pointing to goodness and where they have twisted truth. Prof. Krook's literature classes go hand in hand with Dr. Swanson, examining human writers as they use story, imagery, and symbolism to discern truth from error and point us toward the Great Story. So take these classes, and the treasure trove of Christ's truth, the abundant life of the Spirit, and the gift of God's sovereign goodness will grow and burn in your hearts.
Being a student of Dr. Swanson has been one of the greatest blessings in my Christian walk. ... I was immediately made aware of the type of teacher he was: someone who loved what he taught and wanted others to love it too. ... Dr. Swanson's mission was never simply to give us as much information as possible until class time was over. His mission has always been to form our souls and minds. I can guarantee that you will become a more discerning thinker under his teaching. As a lover of the liberal arts, Dr. Swanson lives and teaches in such a way that embodies an idea that Saint Paul, the Church Fathers, the Medieval Scholastics, and the Reformers have all held as true: all truth is God's truth. This means we do not have to fear the world and the things produced by it. Rather, we can (and must) confidently and discerningly enter into it expecting to behold truth, goodness, and beauty. This also manifests itself in the way that Dr. Swanson places great importance on understanding grammar, literary structure, the biblical languages, history, and virtually every other subject, because God both became incarnate into this context and left His Word using these many disciplines. So, becoming a student under Dr. Swanson won't just make you a better Bible student; it'll make you a better student of everything within God's creation, including yourself. ... If you, too, love God, the liberal arts, the Reformed tradition, and a great quality education, you will never regret being formed by an amazing professor like Dr. Swanson.
I have had the great privilege of taking several classes with both Dr. Swanson and Prof. Krook. They are both full of wisdom, insight, and love for their fields of study, and present all of their classes from a strong Reformed perspective. I learned more from Dr. Swanson's Bible classes than years of sitting in Sunday sermons. Not only is he incredibly knowledgeable about theology, Scripture, and biblical languages (especially Hebrew!), but he is enthusiastic and personable. I always appreciated how he applied what we were studying to our daily lives, from a song we may hear on the radio to an opportunity we may have to evangelize a friend or neighbor.
Likewise, Prof. Krook's classes always extended beyond the classroom, as she taught us how to read and understand the literature of the past to understand our present, especially attuning us to any Dantean references around us. Her teaching is down-to-earth and conversational, making class feel more like a book club where we get to wrestle with big ideas than a series of long lectures that feel untethered to our reality. She is also a wonderful mentor to all of her students, giving us guidance not only on writing but life too.
Professor Krook teaches English in a way that impacts the whole of a person. Not only does she instruct her students with a very obvious love and care for each of them, she has personally changed how I analyze literature, how I write, and how I contemplate and analyze literary themes. To this day I meditate on some of our class discussions regarding beauty, memory, and the role of a believer. She helps her students to grow in their practical writing skills, their critical thinking skills, and in a deep spiritual way as she demonstrates how to analyze secular and Christian works of literature alike and apply those lessons to their life.
To say Dr. Scott Swanson is a gifted teacher, doesn't do justice to the work God is completing through his instruction. I can safely say that few people have touched my life in the myriad of ways in which Dr. Swanson has, but more, none have shown me the truest most vibrant and brilliant light and illimunated into the deepest wells, and infinite depths of the knowledge of God, His awesomeness, grace, riches, majesty, humility, and love; the infinitude buried within God's Most Holy and inerrant Word .... No one has shown me with such veracity and zeal, the Gospel, that, in thinking upon the lectures, studies, our trip to Israel; there are no words adequate enough to convey Scott's gift for teaching and love for God...